TRANSCRIPTION
What are your earliest childhood memories?
I guess when I was 4 and I was living in the children's home. I was the youngest one there so I had to go to kindergarten and didn't have to do anything else.
Did you graduate high school?
Yes I did.
Tell me about your siblings. Were you close?
I have two half siblings. My sister I grew up with, she graduated college. And my half-brother, we think half, we really don't know for sure. Years ago people didn't tell anything, everything was a secret. But he and I are real close, he's in Colorado. He was adopted out. So he didn't find us until I think 1999. 98 or 99. He found our mother and got back into contact with us.
Did you have a lot of chores and responsibilities when you were growing up?
Yes I did. Just the normal things and watching my sister, she was years younger.
What did you do in your spare time?
Pretty much nothing. Just, I, ran wild. I read a lot. I did read a lot.
What was your first job?
Working in a day care in Japan. It was in Grand Heights housing. My husband was stationed there.
How much did you get paid?
Um 45 cents an hour.
Was that pretty good for the time in your life?
No. Some people got paid a dollar!
So it was just a little bonus on top of the military pay?
Yeah because we only made $72 every two weeks. Course the house was already taken out but that was our take home pay. 144 a month. And well we had 3 kids. So we lived on a very restricted budget but we did it.
Where did you go shopping?
Well I was a big k-mart shopper and then when I discovered Walmart when we lived in Alabama I became a big Walmart shopper. I forgot about K-mart. I wasn't loyal.
Did you ever see or deal with any racial discrimination?
Yes. When I went to Alabama in the 60's.
Can you give an example of the discrimination that you experienced?
Well like when I went to Mississippi coming from Massachusetts cause my ex-husband was stationed there. I got on the bus with I oldest daughter she was 13 months old. And I didn't know how things worked. Because on the bus going there the black woman helped me with my duaghter cause I was only 18. When we got to NC she said now you can't go into the restroom with me, well we had been eating our meals together. She said you have to go into the white restroom and I go into the black restroom. So I got off the bus and saw a door and didn't think anything about it and went into it and everyone at the counter turned around and they were all black. And when I lived in Alabama in the 70's I use to give this black girl a ride, we worked together in the sewing factory, to the tri cities because she didn't have a car she could get rides to work but she couldn't get one home. So I would give her rides never thinking anything about cause she was a young girl with kids. It was actually out of the way because I lived in town but I thought what's 40 miles it didn't bother me. Then one day she came in and laid a paper on my desk and I didn't know this cause when we got to the tri cities I would drop her off at the bus stop. And the day before these men were passing out these papers and the paper said that if a black person was seen with a white person the black person would be tarred and feathered and the white person would be dealt with accordingly. So she wouldn't let me take her home anymore. Cause she was scared
Poor thing.
I didn't grow up that way. I grew up in Montana and we didn't have this. We had blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics it didn't matter. So I never thought a thing about it. Then I came to the south and it was a culture shock for me.
And when we were in Mississippi we were on the base, me and my oldest daughter. I got on the bus. There were empty seats in the back. So I just went to the back not thinking. Well when we got off of base the bus driver stopped and said hey you move to the front or get off. And I didn't know he was talking to me. Then he turned around and pointed to me and I said me? He said yes you, move to the front or get off. Cause the back was for the blacks. So I moved to the front and do you think any of those men in the front gave me their seat. No. So I had to stand up and hold a baby in the front of the bus. So everything was weird for me. Separate driving fountains, rest rooms, seating.
Did you ever see any of that in school when you were growing up?
No cause we lived in Montana and we never thought anything about it. My sister's best friend was black from the time they were 4 till they graduated high school. And nobody thought anything about it. So I guess it's just where you live. Because people in Alabama people didn't like me cause I was from the north.
What about the war? Did it have an effect on your life?
Not really. In Japan we would see the injured but that was really it. We would see the men in the hospital. But I really didn't believe in the war. I believe like what my grandmother use to say because she lost two sons in World War 2, war is just a big business the rich get richer and the young die. And that's how I felt about it.
When you were working did you see men and women getting paid different?
Yeah. Men got paid more. Men had always gotten paid more, it doesn't mean they know more. But that's just how it always was so we never thought about it. That's just the way it was. Just deal with it.
Has parenting changed a lot? How?
Oh yes. Well I think parents have given up their authority. Growing up I had respect for authority. And my dad, he was my step dad, he was a good dad but I had this little bit of fear for him and that's because he had the authority. And I just don't think kids have that anymore. Sometimes you need to get your point across. I don't think you need to beat your kids to death. But I never thought that spanking hurt a child. You don't have to beat them, a couple of swats never hurt a child. This is a last resort. Do what your told or this is going to happen.
Did you ever want to go to college? Did you want to?
Yes. But I didn't graduate.
What did you want to do?
I wanted to be a journalist.
What made you want to be a journalist?
Because I liked to read so much. That's what I liked to do. And I liked to write at the time.
What was your favorite job?
Driving the catering truck. Because you just got to do your own thing, no one was breathing down your neck.
Did you always see yourself a mom with four kids?
No. I didn't want kids. I saw myself as a journalist going out on my own.
